Ovenmitts, dish holders and pot holders are most commonly used for holding hot pot handles or lid knobs when handling kitchen utensils during cooking. As ovenmitts are usually big and clumsy, they usually require more time and need help from the other hand to put on. On the other hand, dish/pot holders do not usually cover the area to be held very well and can easily slip. It is thus very likely that hands or fingers are burned when not carefully using such ovenmitts or dish/pot holders. Hence, neither ovenmitts nor dish/pot holders provides safe and convenient handling of kitchen utensils.
Moreover, due to the excessive size of ovenmitts and dish/pot holders, they themselves can get burned when being used. In addition, both ovenmitts and dish holders can be too big not to touch the food contained in the utensil. Hence, they can potentially contaminate the food.
The following U.S. patents concern various dish/pot holders:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,388,743 issued to Hellinger et al. discloses a lid handle cover; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,201,795 issued to Yamanaka discloses a handy container-pan for instantly frizzlable dry foods; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,001,904 issued to Gill discloses a kitchen utensil molded of rubber or flexible synthetic plastic; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,727,238 issued to Silver discloses a pot holder device; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,047,635 issued to Johst discloses a hand holder; and PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,042,255 issued to Haas discloses a holder and wiper.
However, none of the above U.S. patents is effective for protecting a user's hands and fingers during cooking process, especially in the situation when it needs to quickly lift a pot lid, quickly move a pot from a stove, or hold a pot handle or lid knob with one hand while cooking with the other hand.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a pot holder which can effectively protect a user from being burned and is easy and convenient to use, and simple and inexpensive to manufacture. The present invention provides a pot holder which meets these requirements.